Banyana draw hosts at 2012 AWC
Banyana Banyana have been drawn with hosts Equatorial Guinea in the same
group at the African Women’s Championship later this year.
They have avoided defending champions Nigeria, who beat Equatorial
Guinea in the final of the last championship at Daveyton in South Africa two
years ago.
Equatorial Guinea and South Africa are joined by the Democratic Republic
of Congo and Senegal in Group A.
Nigeria, who have won all but one of the seven previous African Women’s
Championships, are top seeds in Group B where they are paired with Cameroon,
Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia.
Cameroon are an outside bet for the title, having upset Ghana in the
qualifiers and knocking them out of the competition and also qualifying for the
Olympic Games, where they represent the continent alongside Banyana Banyana.
The eight-team championship are being hosted in the capital Malabo and
Bata, which were the venues used for the African Nations Cup earlier this year
when Equatorial Guinea co-hosted the men’s event with Gabon.
The tournament is being hosted from October 28-November 11. Group A is
being hosted in Malabo and Group B in Bata.
The draw was conducted in Cairo on Tuesday.
Banyana’s first game is against Equatorial Guinea, who were African
champions in 2008, on October 28. South Africa lost in the 2008 final to
Equatorial Guinea and then again in extra time in the semifinal of the last
women’s championship two years ago.
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